


Just One Thing I Need

by Karis_Artemisia_Judith



Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:53:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25733878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karis_Artemisia_Judith/pseuds/Karis_Artemisia_Judith
Summary: Anna's Christmas surprise doesn't go according to plan. Written for the Frozine Kristanna Calendar zine.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 19





	Just One Thing I Need

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Punkpoemprose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Punkpoemprose/gifts).



"Thanks for helping me with this, Honey, it's perfect!" Anna walked backwards into the living room, wrestling the huge box labeled 'Dishwasher' through the doorway and around the furniture. Behind her, Honeymaren paused to nudge the door shut with her foot, since her arms were full wrapping paper and rolls of double-sided tape. **  
**

"I'm just happy to have a working dishwasher before dinner tomorrow," Honey said, dumping her load onto the faded couch and producing scissors from her back pocket. "Between all our families it's going to be at least twenty people. Dirty dishes have been haunting my dreams and Elsa keeps waking up mumbling 'more sponges! I need more sponges!'"

Anna laughed and shoved the coffee table to one side, making room in front of the Christmas tree. "That's because you've never had Bulda for a holiday dinner before--trust me, you turn your back for a second and she'll have everyone organized into a dishwashing assembly line, and it won't matter how many times you try to help, she'll just keep handing you plates of dessert or mugs of cider and telling you that the cook should never have to clean." She wrinkled her nose, grinning. "Elsa kind of hates it, but Kris likes to say that Bulda is an unstoppable force, like a boulder rolling downhill."

"Elsa is too used to managing people, it's probably good for her, and I'll take all the help I can get." Honey joined Anna on the floor. 

"Mmhm." Anna bit her lip, wiggling her toes inside their red and white fuzzy socks. She was staring dreamily at the rainbow lights of the tree, watching their flickering colors go on and off between the branches. 

"Anna? Hello?"

"Hmm?"

"I said we should get started, because doesn't Kris get home in twenty minutes?"

"Huh? Oh! Yes, sorry!"

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Fine!" Anna fumbled with the tape, yanking out a piece that was too long. It folded over and stuck to itself, then to her fingers, and then to her other fingers. "Maybe I'm a little tired, I was too excited to sleep."

"You're blushing," Honey said in a sing-song voice, spreading shiny green paper on the floor. "Are you nervous?"

"No!" Honey's raised eyebrow made Anna blush even more. She tucked a stray bit of red hair behind her ear, avoiding Honey's knowing look. "I'm not! I'm just...excited. He's going to be so surprised!"

~*~*~

Kristoff _liked_ winter. He liked the cold weather and the clean snow, the smell of woodsmoke in the air, the quiet after the tourists emptied out of the "quaint, picturesque" small town and left it to the locals. He liked his job, spending time outdoors, working with his hands. 

He just wasn't sure why, at the moment. 

It was more than an hour later than he should have gotten home, his socks were wet, his nose was cold, and his truck was stuck in the snow, which was why he'd been walking for twenty minutes. Right now the only thing Kristoff liked was the thought of dry socks. And his bed. And Anna. And pressing his cold nose into the soft nape of her neck, right between the two braids she usually wore. Anna, in his bed, squirming and laughing because of his cold nose. And warm socks. That was it, that was everything he wanted in the world.

Except that when he finally got home there was no Anna, in his bed or anywhere else. The windows were dark as he stomped the clinging snow off his boots on the porch, and when he let himself in everything was quiet. The only light was the Christmas tree, blinking to itself in the living room. 

"Anna?" 

She wasn't napping on the couch--usually when he was late he'd come home to find her curled up in front of the TV, trying to wait up for him but dozing off. 

He left his boots at the door, hopping on one foot to peel off his chilly socks as he went down the hall. No Anna in the bedroom. Kristoff frowned down at his phone as he put on fresh, warm stocks. He'd been saving the battery and turned it off while he walked, but there were no messages from Anna, not even a reply to his text that he'd be late. That wasn't right. When he called all he got was Anna's cheerful voicemail message apologizing for missing him. 

Kristoff double-checked the bathroom, the kitchen, the living room, then checked the bedroom again. Nothing. He sat down on the bed with a thump and took a deep breath. 

The phone rang twice before a voice answered. "Yes?"

"Elsa? Is Anna there?"

"What? No, of course not. Honey gave her a ride home hours ago. Why?"

"She's not home, even though her car is here, but--"

"Not home? Where is she?" There was a brittle edge to the voice on the other end of the line, but Kristoff wasn't in the mood to worry about it.

"I don't know, I just got home and she's not here."

"Did you have a fight?"

He gritted his teeth. "No. Well--" Kristoff stopped, thinking back. "It wasn't a fight," he said. "We had this weird conversation, about promposals--"

"About what?"

"Teenagers asking each other to prom, but with big, elaborate, public spectacles. Like what Ryder did for Jason? That's what started it, because Ryder has been texting me all kinds of crazy ideas for proposing to Anna, and she saw one of the videos and--"

"And what?" Elsa prompted. There was an unspoken _what did you do wrong_ behind the words.

He sighed. "And she was saying how cute and great it was, but that of course I wouldn't want to do that. I laughed and said she was right, and she didn't seem mad, but--" But she hadn't laughed, had she? She'd gotten a distracted look on her face and changed the subject. _What if she thinks I don't want to propose at all?_ Because he did--well, what he really wanted was to be _married_ to Anna, and he knew proposing had to happen, even if he hadn't figured out how--

"Hold on," Elsa said, and he heard talking, muffled as if she was holding her hand over the phone, then she was saying "Fine, fine, I will--Kristoff, is there a big box in the living room?"

"I think so--yes," he said, flipping on the light as he went in. "There's a big present." He hadn't paid attention to it, too focused on socks and finding Anna. But when he stepped closer, he suddenly knew exactly where she was. "Elsa? Nevermind, she's here. I'll have her call you in a minute, okay?"

He hung up, and knelt to put his ear against the shiny wrapping paper. The noise came again--a very definite, familiar snore. "Anna?" Kristoff shook the box gently. "Anna, are you okay?"

There was a snort, and then a mumbled swear and rustling. 

"Kris?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah--hang on--aw, _heck_." The box tipped over and Anna fell partway out, tearing through the paper. "Hi," she said, blinking up at him. "I think I fell asleep."

Kristoff scraped a hand down his face, trying not to laugh. "Yeah, you did." He leaned down to kiss her. 

"This was supposed to go differently, you know," Anna told him, still lying on the floor, half in and half out of the box. "I was going to hear you come in, and play a song on the bluetooth speaker, and then bust out of this present, like out of a cake, right? Except I was all taped up in here before I realized I didn't have my phone, so I thought I'd do it without the music, _but_ then I fell asleep." She huffed out a sigh. "Okay, we'll just have to work with this."

"Worth with what--" 

Anna wriggled, scooting awkwardly out of the box so that she could sit up on her knees. "I was thinking, why should all the pressure be on you, that's not fair! And I was supposed to have Mariah Carey backing me up, for this part, but--" 

He stared at her, at her mussed hair, at her mischievous smile, at the tape stuck to her sweater--which was actually his sweater, and the too-long sleeve was where she'd been hiding the green velvet box she held out. "Kristoff--don't kiss me yet, I have to say the whole thing! Kristoff Bjorgman, will you marry me?"

~*~*~ 

> _I just want you for my own_
> 
> _More than you could ever know_

~*~*~ 

"It's not _cheesy_ , it's a Christmas classic," Anna said, poking him in the ribs. They were still on the living room floor, surrounded by flattened cardboard and torn wrapping paper. 

"Okay, but it doesn't have to be in every Christmas movie. It's definitely overused."

"That's not Mariah's fault!"

He kissed her again. 

"So--" she murmured, after a quiet interval. "Is this a yes?"

"Hmm?"

"You never said yes. Are you going to marry me and let me play Mariah Carey every Christmas for the rest of our lives?"

“Is the song negotiable?”

“Nope, we’re a package deal, me and Mariah.”

He grinned, pressing his lips to her hair. 

"Then yes."


End file.
